It's our nature to rebel
by VividViridian
Summary: What if the Autobots never came back? What if Sam didn't save the day, and the Decepticons actually succeeded?   The answer is, humans would never take it laying down.
1. Into the Compound

So...High school started. Ow. I've learned slowly that it sucks away all your free time, sleep time, and creativity. I've had such a writer's block for so long I swear my brain is a lifeless dusty husk now. It gives me a headache. But, it's winter break now, and I got Transformers 3 for Christmas! Of course, if you've seen this movie, you HAVE to have wondered what life would be like if the Autobots hadn't come back? If the Decepticons were successful in their crazy plan? Well...I did. And it was a very ugly picture, that made for a great story in my head.

I have to say, I was really kind of resentful of Carly throughout the whole movie...but I'm sort of biased, so I decided to give her some liberties. That being, I didn't kill her off, or make her a complete idiot. She's really kind of pleasant, actually. I've got devils and angels on my shoulders though, so we'll have to see how long this might last. I do intend to have Dylan Gould make an appearance sooner or later...and it won't be at all pleasant for him :)

So my Autobot Academy thing that I had been working on...well I loved where it was going, but it died. It was brutally killed as soon as the school year started. I'm not going to kill it off as a story myself, because I still love that story to death, and come on...it's the first fanfic I ever uploaded. So I'll continue to brainstorm over it, but don't hold your breath.

SO ANYWAYS. I like to ramble. It's a sad fact of life for me. But I'll get the rest of my thoughts down whenever I get the next chapter of this up, so here we go. As always, I'll welcome any and all comments, reviews, and criticisms, and enjoy!

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><p>Arabell crept through the darkness slowly, pulling her cloak tightly around herself. Glancing past the corner of the building she was hiding behind, she squeezed her eyes shut, and withdrew quickly from the bright lights of the work area. The Chicago Branch was the largest workforce, since the entire project had begun there. The Decepticons, evidently, had a small sense of sentimentality, however morbid it might have been. Flying down an alley, Bell crouched under a dim lamppost, the only light in the damp area. Lifting a grate, she pulled out a dirty brown work bag, and grinned.<p>

"Sam, you wonderful boy," She muttered.

"You say something, Bell?" He crackled back over the earpiece that was crammed into her ear canal.

"Carly's managed to get the package in place." She heard a weary sigh on the other end.

"Good…that's good." Bell never ceased to be amazed by how much love those two harbored for each other, even after a year of being separated by Decepticon-made boundaries. Sam would never be able to cross the threshold onto worker's territory. Carly was one of many that were forever trapped, condemned to work until their death. Arabell was one of the only members of the Rebellion small enough to fit through a small chink in the armor, so to speak. Scouts had found a small damaged area of the boundary that allowed passage, as long as one was small enough to fit. Otherwise, the intruder was more or less vaporized.

"Alright Sam," Arabell spoke again, more quietly, as she pulled off her cloak. "I'm gonna go in now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck, Bell. I'm standing by, and Ryan will be monitoring your vitals."

"Gotcha." As the line clicked shut, Bell moved out from under the light to peel off the rest of her scouting outfit, and switch into the worker's disguise. Once she had pulled on a grubby grease-stained shirt along with some dirty leather boots, she crammed her other clothes into the work bag, and slung it over her shoulder. To anyone else, it would have looked like it carried tools. Pulling a hard hat over her short dark hair, she took off in the direction of the worker's compound.

Getting in wasn't difficult; The Decepticons didn't care if someone sauntered in, they just saw it as a new body to add to the workforce. Getting out would be the tricky part. For now, though, Bell was content focusing on one thing at a time. Picking up an abandoned hammer, she blended right in with the crowd of workers. As she scanned the crowd for Carly, an elderly man caught her attention. Thin as a toothpick, he stumbled along looking as if he could barely hold his own weight, much less the steel bars that were slung over his shoulder. She saw his knees buckle before his face even seemed to register any pain, and only just made it in time to take the weight of the bars. Slinging one bony arm around her neck, she steadied him and led him to a secluded area, leaning him against the wall of a vacated building. She watched as one trembling hand clutched at his chest, and his expression contorted into one of pain as he struggled to catch his breath. Kneeling by him, Bell gingerly placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hang in there," Unsure of what to do, it was all she could think of to say.

"Oh," Bell whipped around, relaxing when she saw that it was Carly who stood over them, looking close to tears. "Oh," She gasped again. "Wait right here, I'll go get-" She was cut off as he lifted his hand in a placating gesture.

"No, no, my dear, it's my time." He smiled, looking surprisingly at ease with the fact. "Eighty-nine years…it was a long, full life. It's better than what you young people have to go through…this, this-" His hands fluttered aimlessly as he became more upset, and he opened his eyes to look at them. "Ah, Carly…you were such a sweet girl. You stay strong, you hear? There aren't many with a heart like yours around here." Carly picked up his hand, holding it tightly as tears spilling over her cheeks. His eyes drifted towards Bell as he spoke. "And…" His brow knit as he peered at Bell. "You…you're one of those rebels, aren't you?" Bell shot a furtive glance over her shoulder.

"Yes sir," She replied quietly. "How did you know?" He gave her a toothy smile.

"You've got that look in your eye, the same exact one that I used to have. People mistake it for stubbornness, but it's really determination…yeah?" Bell graced him with a small smile.

"Absolutely."

"Good, that's good. Use it well. I've only ever met a handful of people with that look in their eye. Every single one of them has gotten the job done, once they'd set their mind to it. What's your name?"

"It's Arabell, sir."

"What a lovely name. Promise me something, Arabell…do whatever it takes to return everything just as it was. Our world was never perfect, but everything needs its flaws. It gives us things to fix!" He said with a laugh. "So promise me." Bell picked up his hand, squeezing his cold fingers.

"I promise." He opened his mouth to talk, but was cut off by racking coughs. As he wheezed, he tilted his head back and smiled weakly, dying right before their eyes. Carly dissolved into sobs as she closed his eyes. Bell watched her quietly.

"He was," Carly finally spoke, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Like a grandfather to…everyone here." Bell remained silent, regarding the corpse sadly. He looked as though he were sleeping peacefully, living in a pleasant dream.

"I'm sorry." She finally said. "I wish I could have known him." Carly looked at the young girl, and sniffed loudly.

"Well, that's that I suppose. People live, people die…he was at least lucky enough to live his entire life, free of this rubbish. But enough of this. Here's the information I've managed to gather. The security's gotten tighter recently, so the Tech's haven't been able to get much, but…" She trailed off, holding out a small microchip.

"We can use anything. You're invaluable to us Carly." Bell was surprised as the older woman pulled her into a hug.

"God," Carly sniffled and pulled back with a smile, sensing Bell's discomfort. "You don't know how much that means to me. I can get to be so hard sometimes…just working with everyone every day, never knowing when you might die, when someone else might die…knowing I may never see Sam again." Bell listened silently, sliding the microchip into a small compartment in the latch of her bracelet. As Carly talked about Sam, Bell paused. "How is he?" Carly asked quietly.

"…he tries to hide it, but everyone can tell he misses you a lot." Carly wiped a tear from her cheek, and smiled shakily with a nod.

"Tell him I miss him too. Desperately." Carly looked at Bell as she stood. "He's right, you know?"

"Who?" Carly gestured at the old man, her eyes never leaving Bell's face.

"What he said. You're just so young. I can't help but feel this thing is so much more unfair for you."

"Please," Bell rolled her eyes. "Spare me the pity. There are plenty of kids being born into Compounds every day, being bred for slave labor. Besides, it's not like you're _not_ young." She scoffed, turning an accusatory finger towards Carly. "I think that was aimed towards both of us." Carly shook her head.

"No, I know…and yet, it just seems more tragic for you somehow. You hadn't even graduated from High School, right? You had your whole life ahead of you."

"Well, now I don't have homework. So that's a plus." Bell began to leave, ready to leave it at that, but her feet stopped on their own, Carly's words flitting about her head, bothering her more than they should have. She turned around, sighing in exasperation. "You know, yeah, it sucks that I didn't get to live up my High School Life, but there are so many kids in a worse situation than mine. At least, now I can make a difference. At least _now_, I can matter." Carly shook her head again, sadly, but proudly at the same time.

"You are just so brave. But you're right, you've got to go. Go on, I'll make sure he gets a proper burial." She smiled at bell one last time. "Go make a difference in our world."


	2. A change of plans

ARGH. School started again, so it's gonna be hard to get any writing in. Thankfully, I managed to finish this chapter up right before the end of my break, but I'm nowhere near the good parts yet! ARGH. And just one more time for good measure **_ARGH._** So yay, frustrations.

Anyhow, more characters! All of which are female right now, which I swear was not planned on my part. The majority of my characters tend to be girls, because once boys get into the mix...well, it tends to get complicated. Anyways, this story may get a bit angst-y, or something like that in the future. Still no Dylan Gould yet...I'm continuing to plot my revenge :)

Well, hope you enjoy this short little chapter, review and all that good stuff, and hope and pray that I won't be killed drowning in my homework! XP

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><p><em>Explosions. In all my years living in Chicago, I never thought I would ever hear explosions. Now, they're all I hear…but even they aren't enough to drown out the screams outside…the sounds of death. How many people are dying? How many people have died? It's so dark…I can't breathe…I want to go out there, and die with all those other people. Why should I be any different? Why should I survive? Maybe I won't…I can't breathe…my heart feels like it's about to burst…why won't it stop pounding? I'm sweating, even though it's freezing. I wish I could go out there and die…anything would be better than this…right? It would be so easy. I just have to open this door, crawl out, and accept my fate…my choice…it's so simple, but…I can't bring myself to do it. I'm not strong. I'm not brave. I'm…worthless. <em>

Bell's eyes flew open as someone touched her on the shoulder, her arm instinctively bringing the barrel of a small handgun to a young girl's forehead. As Bell stared into blue eyes wide with fear, she scolded herself. She had been hiding behind an abandoned building near the border, waiting for her chance to squeeze out of the Compound, and had fallen asleep. Shaking her head she tried to clear her mind of the dream she always had. Bell never dreamed anymore. She was only ever haunted by memories. Bringing herself back to reality, Bell realized she still had the gun held against a child's forehead. The girl couldn't have been older than five or six years old, her overalls too big for her, so that they hung off of her like a sack. Bell immediately dropped the gun, feeling incredibly guilty. The child looked like a little angel, with clear blue eyes, and curly blonde hair. Bell felt even worse once she realized the girl was trembling now.

"Ah…so-sorry about that…you startled me…" Was her measly excuse, as she stowed the gun back into her bag. "Um…what's your name?" The child blinked at her, and responded in a quivering voice.

"Rachel." Bell reached into her bag, rummaging through her food supplies.

"Well Rachel, I know it's not much, but," She pulled out a lollipop, offering it to Rachel. "Can this, maybe, make up for it?" Rachel's round little face lit up at the sight of the colorful wrapper, and she reached for it with small pudgy hands. Bell's heart gave a tug. Rachel's bright face reminded her so much of her own little sister…

"Lollipop?" Rachel asked, wondering why Bell didn't give it to her already.

"Yeah, I bet you don't get many of these anymore, huh?" Bell kneeled, handing the candy to Rachel. "Listen, I've got to go now, okay?" She finally said, rubbing Rachel's head fondly.

"Are you gonna try to get out?" Rachel muttered quietly.

"Yeah. Don't worry though, we'll send more people to get you guys out…okay?" Rachel grinned up at her.

"'Kay!" Bell couldn't stand the fact that she might be lying to this angelic little child…but there was only so much she could do, even if she was part of the rebellion.

"Rachel, do you know what time it is?"

"Umm…" Her voice was muffled by the lollipop in her mouth. "Almost ten." She pointed to the workers. "They stop at 9:50." The workers on site were just beginning to pack up, which usually took about five minutes. Bell's only chance to sneak out was when the shifts changed. With so many workers, the Decepticons had to keep their eyes on all of the people moving around, and there was a momentary blind spot while it was dark out. The 10:00-12:00 shift was the final shift of the day, meaning Bell had roughly fifteen minutes before her last chance was gone. She cursed. A couple hours earlier, this would have been the prime spot to execute her escape, but security tightened as it got later. The Decepticons weren't stupid. Bell had only a few places to choose from now, and each spot put her at a disadvantage. The first step was getting past the fencing that surrounded the Compound, hopefully without triggering any alarms. Then she would have to run all the way to the spot where the boundary was weak. And there was always the issue that she might burn up if she so much as nudged the edge of the hole. Bell grit her teeth, patting Rachel one more time on the head, and took off for the closest exit.

The bag at her side weighed Bell down, and neither the baggy overalls nor the tattered work boots made running any easier. She made turn after turn, and eventually had to stop to catch her breath. There were a lot of buildings in the Compound, either preserved or rebuilt, so that the humans would be able to survive on their own. Having so many buildings made it easy to hide, but it also made it difficult to navigate. The place was _huge_ after all! As Bell began to disappear into the crowd again, and hand fell heavily on her shoulder, stopping her. Glancing over her shoulder, Bell found herself looking into steely green eyes. It was a girl, roughly Bell's age, with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"You…" She said. "You're not from around here. I know almost every face here…you snuck in didn't you? You're part of that rebellion." Bell took one look into those battle hardened eyes, and knew there wasn't a chance of lying to this girl. She simply nodded. A grin spread over the other girl's face, making all of her features less intimidating. She practically glowed. "I knew it." She whispered. "I knew it wasn't a rumor! There really are people out there…fighting for us?" Bell nodded again. She was losing time, and was growing impatient. The other girl's face hardened again. "And you're trying to get out."

"Yeah, and I'm kind of on a time limit here. I've got to make it to the South exit by 10:00. Trust me we're doing everything we can to get you guys out of here –"

"Then get us out of here." She cut Bell off. "I know you can't get everyone out, but get the elderly out at least." An image of the dying old man flashed across Bell's mind, and sorrow gripped her heart.

"It's…not that simple. To get in and out, you need to be nimble, fast, flexible, small—"

"Then get the orphans out." Instantly, Bell stopped breathing at the word 'orphan'. The other girl gestured behind her, and Bell noticed for the first time that they had an audience. Peeking out from the door of a small building were several faces, boys and girls alike, from toddlers to young teenagers. Bell guessed there were probably about fifteen of them all together. Rachel was among them, waving gleefully. Bell groaned. She was running out of time, and this was definitely not the time for her heart to be getting in the way of her mission. "Just hear me out—"

"No, listen to me…" Bell looked at her pointedly.

"My name's Suzanne."

"Suzanne. It's _impossible_. One person can barely get by as it is, ten or fifteen is way too much, and there's a long run to make too. I know for a fact that those kids don't have the stamina a person needs to make it out of here alive, and in order to get through the boundary, you can't be clumsy or careless. I'd love to help you, but they just can't possibly do it." Suzanne's eyes gleamed.

"You'll never know unless you try, will you?"

"They _can't_ make the trip."

"_Watch. Them._" Suzanne was determined. "We don't have any parents. We don't have anyone but each other, and we're crammed into the worst building on the site. We barely get by as it is, because it's a completely screwed up society we live in now. The younger kids probably won't even last a few more weeks. We can't survive here. _That's_ what's impossible. Just take one look at them, and tell me you really can't find it in your heart to save them." Bell looked right into Suzanne's eyes, and knew she really believed that this was what the orphans needed. Not only that, she believed the orphans could make the trip. Bell looked at them again, and felt that familiar tug on her heart, thinking of her own sister. She growled under her breath, clenching her hands into fists.

"Fine. But you better make sure you can all keep up, because I can't wait for you. Got that? You better _keep up_, or you're _dead_." Suzanne blinked in disbelief, and then grinned so widely Bell thought her face might split from the strain.

"Got it. You said you needed to get to the South exit right? Not a problem, no one knows these streets better than I do. I can get us there in no time!"


	3. Will we Make it Out?

SO. IT'S SUMMER BREAK AS OF YESTERDAY. Not a day too soon, I might add. Of course, writing is the first thing I get to as soon as I have an ounce of free time to spare! I'm just starting to get back in the groove, so it's a bit short this time, but there is a lot more coming your way, TRUST ME. I am way to excited for this. WAY TOO EXCITED.

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><p>Suzanne really did know the place well, better than Bell could have ever thought was possible for a human being. Suzanne was also a natural runner, and it was becoming increasingly obvious that she had had an athletic lifestyle; Bell was beginning to believe that Suzanne was actually capable of making the escape. The children, on the other hand, were still an issue. Most of them could barely keep up as it was, and Suzanne was already switching off between carrying toddlers, since she could only hold one at a time as she ran. Bell's certainty never wavered: these kids couldn't make the trip. How was she supposed to pull this off?<p>

"It's not much further." Suzanne called over her shoulder without stopping, ducking under a pile of unstable construction materials, and turning the corner, all at the same time. Bell had to admit, she was impressed.

"How'd you get to know the place so well, anyway?" Bell asked. Typically, she never asked questions, but Suzanne was the most interesting girl Bell had met in a long time. There was a small pause from the other girl, the kind of silence that Bell had learned to interpret as a sound of secrets being kept. In the world they lived in now, it wasn't an unfamiliar sound.

"Let's just say," She finally said as she slowed down, bringing an arm out to hold the rest of them back. "I'm not an orphan from this war exactly." Peeking around the corner of the building, she muttered extra tidbits of information. "I grew up where it was necessary to have some street smarts. It's what's kept me and these kids alive for this long." Suzanne turned and looked at Bell with steely eyes. "They're my family. You have to understand that."

"Well, I…" Bell felt cornered. "We have less than ten minutes left. I don't have to understand anything, what you have to understand is that you're driving most of these kids to their death. You're not saving them, no matter what you think. They can't make it, and if they get caught…" Bell coughed lightly. "The Decepticons certainly get bored on the job too. You really don't know how bad they can be when they decide to use a human for 'playtime'."

"Oh believe me," Suzanne's eyes were amazing, the way they could bore into Bell and send thousands of doubts and fears flying like daggers into her heart. "_I really do_." Bell literally had to shake her head to get ahold of herself.

"They'll be killed, don't you realize that?"

"If they're killed, I'll die right along with them. Don't you get it? We've already got a death sentence on our heads. We're pretty much branded as walking ghosts. No one can afford to care for the orphans; no one can take any energy away from themselves. Without adults to raise us, keep us strong, teach us how to be slaves, we're useless to the workforce. We're nothing more than extra mouths to feed." Suzanne was folding a large cloth as she spoke, furiously tearing it into smaller pieces. "I can't hide it from them either. We're all sitting here waiting to die, okay? This escape, it's no riskier than us just living in this compound." Bell watched in amazement as the children, utterly calm, assembled themselves into a perfectly compact mass of bodies. The older ones were skillfully tying the cloth around themselves and tucking the smaller ones securely into the folds. They had rehearsed this, practiced it, expected it, and waited for it: This one chance. "What's your name?" Bell startled.

"It's…uh, it's Arabell." Suzanne ripped the last bit of cloth apart with her teeth, and began tying it securely around her waist.

"Well tell me this, Arabell. I think I already know the answer, but do you know what it's like to lose everyone that's important to you?" Bell could only nod. "DO you know what it is to lose something precious to you? To want nothing more than to protect something, when you don't have any options besides putting them in danger all the time? _To fail_?" Bell immediately recognized the pain in those sharp green eyes. She could see past the façade now, because Bell had felt that exact pain. She understood now. Suzanne had already lost a lot of these kids. Snatching the final strip of cloth from Suzanne's hand, Bell kicked off her shoes, tore off her overalls, and started tying it around her waist.

"I get it." She looked at Suzanne's stunned face. "_I get it_. Get rid of whatever extra weight you can. All your tools, the overalls, anything. Running around in the city streets is one thing, but this distance is a whole other monster." Bell crammed the workers outfit into the bag, and tossed it all aside, already back in her scouting clothes. Suzanne was already working away, tearing the legs off of the overalls and tying the boot laces up extra tight.

"Umm," Bell looked down when she felt a tug on her sleeve. Rachel was standing there, holding two infants, one already slung across her back. "This is Jasper." She held him up to Bell. As Bell gently lifted him into her sling, Rachel continued to speak. "And this is Del." She pointed to the small baby on her own back. "They're my brothers. And my mama told me to take care of them, before she got sick and went away. But I can't hold both of them, cause I'm not big enough yet. But Del's really sick, see, his heart doesn't beat very good, so I need to take extra special care of him." Bell's heart wrenched as she watched Rachel's face crumble, tears flowing freely down her cheeks, mucus dribbling out her nose. "So take really good care of Jasper, okay? I don't want them to die, so take really really good care of him, and I'll get Del out of here, and everything'll be okay…we'll all be really happy…right?" She wailed, terrified. Bell closed her eyes, counted to ten, and took one deep breath.

"Right. That's exactly right. You won't let your mom down Rachel. I promise."

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><p>Should I put this under a more angsty theme I wonder...?<p> 


	4. The Great Escape And Other Complications

Well, so, I'm really excited. There's not much more to say, but I've just cleared six thousand words :D I seriously need some reviews, give me some constructive criticism guys, I just wrote almost six pages, and it's now two in the morning. I'm tired, and fully expecting my longest chapter yet to be my worst yet. Evidently, I got carried away. So, expect more to come, and we'll see what the quality of this chapter is in the morning I guess? Enjoy!

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><p>"We're almost out of time." Bell muttered, gripping the knot of her sash tightly. She had to protect Jasper for Rachel's sake. She hadn't felt the weight and burden of this kind of responsibility since her sister...the thought set all her nerves on edge, her legs actually trembling as she struggled to get ahold of herself. "Have the kids go first. The workers have finished packing up, the bell's gonna sound at any second. We'll have exactly five minutes to make it across the compound and to the gate. When you get there, do not touch anything, the fencing is covered with triggers and alarms. Suzanne, you and I will follow them."<p>

"Shouldn't one of us go before them, and make sure they get there alright?" Bell shook her head.

"You're going to have to take a chance. We're the fastest runners, so we're the most likely to be able to get there in a pinch at the last minute. If the shift change finishes while the kids are still out there, they're goners; we go last." Suzanne nodded, gripping the hand of one of the children. "Like I said, wait for me to get there. Once we're past the fencing, you need to use every last bit of energy you have and _run_. You run as fast as you can, don't stop, don't look back, and never slow down, just run straight for the boundary. Once we're out there, there is no such thing as hiding, or taking cover, we'll be completely exposed, so we have to make it out while all eyes are still watching the workers. And keep your eyes on me _at all times_. If you so much as brush the boundary, you'll be cooked so fast we won't even notice you're gone." Some of the younger children were beginning to cry, and Suzanne bit her lip hard enough to draw some blood. Bell glanced at the worksite. All the workers were standing stock still, waiting for the bell. They were a go at any second. "Listen to me. This is not going to be easy, and it will be terrifying, but if you follow me, and if you do exactly as I say, I will get you out of here alive. Do you believe me?" There was a moment of silence, tears dripping down cheeks, small hands trembling as they gripped smaller fingers. "Do you trust me?" Bell asked again.

"…yes." Suzanne looked at her with warmth for the first time. "Yes." She said with more conviction, and as she did, several heads began to bob up and down, several eyes staring into Bell's soul entrusting their lives with her. Suzanne pressed her lips into a tight line, and nodded at Bell again, this time with a whole new meaning: 'we'll shoulder this together'.

"Alright, get ready."

"Just like we practiced, okay? Just pretend your racing down the streets for food again." Suzanne began muttering to the children. Everyone stood still, no one made a sound, and for a moment there was peace. The silence was so pure, Bell could have closed her eyes and pretended everything was alright again. Then,

_DING. DING. DING. _

"GO, GO, GO!" Bell screamed at the top of her lungs, already being drowned out by the sound of the bell, and the commotion of the workers. The kids took off running in a straight line. Holding Jasper close to her chest, Bell stared in awe as she got into position. The kids were completely different from before, their legs moving so quickly they blurred together, as if they were a single moving entity. Each one clutched an infant to their chests, but never broke apart from each other, staying in a perfect formation with Rachel in the lead, ducking between legs with ease. It was incredible, surreal, _fantastic_. "How…?" Bell asked Suzanne, knowing she didn't have to finish the question.

"I've trained them every day, had them practice. We run laps around the complex, race each other, chase each other…I've been doing nothing but preparing them for a day when we might be able to get out." Suzanne grinned. "Like I said: 'watch them.' They're more than capable of making this trip. Still doubt me?" Bell smirked, her first smile Suzanne had seen.

"We'll see. You ready?"

"I always have been."

"_Go_." They took off running, straight into the crowd. Life became slower as adrenalin pumped into Bell's system, and everything around her became sharper. She could see Suzanne ducking through the throng of people. All she knew now was the movement of her legs, the child pressed against her chest, the strain of her lungs, the rough jabs of elbows and knees. _Five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. _She ducked under a steel bar, stubbed her toe on a brick, continued to fly forward as she regained her balance. _Five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. _She could see the fence, the children, Suzanne closing in one them. _Five minutes, five minutes, five minutes. _And she could hear it.

_Beep. _

_Four minutes. _She pushed her legs harder, broke through the crowd, and skidded to a stop by the kids at the fence.

"We don't have time to rest, let's go, the weak point is just over -"

"Not so fast." Bell's blood turned cold as she felt a weapon pressed against her lower back. Suzanne had bloody murder written all over her face.

"Mr. Gould…" Venom coated her voice. "Put the taser down. Rachel, grab your brother." Bell didn't move as Rachel pulled Jasper out of the cloth, and moved away to a safe distance.

"Don't tell me," A taser was something Bell could handle, but it ruined their chance of escape. They were losing a lot of time as it was. "Gould, as in Dylan Gould, from Hotchkiss Gould Investments?"

"CEO, actually." The taser never left her back, but Bell could tell he was letting his guard down; she could feel his grip loosening. Even now, he was as prideful as Sam and Carly said he was. "What, were you a fan?"

"No," Shifting one foot forward just an inch, Bell suddenly had the leverage she needed to turn the tables. Training at the base was brutal, but came in handy at times. "I wouldn't say I was!" Utilizing her flexibility, she was able to twist around fast enough to deliver a speedy reverse heel kick straight to his head. He toppled over to one side, and dropped the taser, which Suzanne kicked away with surprising power and speed.

"He's out cold." Suzanne sighed with relief, standing from where she was kneeling beside him. "But you," She looked at Bell with a new level of respect. "I didn't know you could do that."

"To be honest," Bell panted. "Neither did I."

_Beep._

Cursing, Bell stood and took Jasper from Rachel's arms again. "We need to go!"

"Should we…" Suzanne gestured at Dylan.

"Just leave him, we're running out of time, follow my lead!" It was a complete blur as she led them to the weak, rusted fencing, and helped the children over. Suzanne swung her legs over, and just as Bell was getting a foothold,

_Beep._

Things were different now, Bell had to be in the lead, or the others would get themselves killed. She hefted herself over the barbs, wincing as a stray wire tore through the fabric of her pants, digging through the delicate skin underneath. Still, she hit the ground at a full run.

"_Keep your eyes on me!_" She screamed as they began to follow her, pouring on the speed. There was no way of telling how many of them would make it. It was almost a mile out to the boundary. Even a grown male would have a hard time running that distance in two minutes, while holding this speed, with a child strapped to their backs no less. Bell was beginning to doubt that even she would make it…

"_JUST. RUN!_" She screamed again, the only thing she could do. "_DO. NOT. STOP!_" She could feel her shoe getting soaked with the blood that was running down her leg at an alarming rate. She heard Suzanne and the other children screaming at each other behind her, trying to keep each other going, but Bell couldn't do any more. Her lungs were already burning, the weight of the child slowing her down, the pain in her leg distracting her. All the stakes were higher, the situation far more than she could possibly handle. How could she pace herself like she usually did, how was it possible to know her limits under these circumstances? Eyes growing dim, limbs growing numb, each sense gradually leaving her more and more hopeless.

Just as she was about to give up on everything, she could hear it, that faint hum of an electrical charge, which the boundary always gave off. Forcing her legs to stop, she threw her arms in the air, almost crying from gratitude, and hope.

"STOP!" Finally able to focus on something besides the rush of blood in her ears, she heard sobs and whimpers behind her, and grinned. Looking over her shoulder, the grin widened as Suzanne flashed her a thumbs up. They had all made it.

_BZZZZZZZZT. _

The shift change was over. They were almost, but not quite out.

"Shh…" She brought a finger to her lips, bringing her hoarse voice down to a whisper. "Move slowly and quietly." Suzanne really did have street smarts; it turned out she had taught the kids everything there was to know on survival instincts. Bell had to check over her shoulder several times to make sure they were still behind her.

Her ears trained, she stopped when she heard the hum drop in pitch – the telltale sign of The Hole. Kicking up some dust, they were able to just barely see the outline, jagged and wavering. She gestured towards it, pointing to the smallest child in front.

"Do not touch the sides, whatever you do." He nodded soberly, and quickly climbed through, followed by several others. They were small enough that it wasn't even a problem, and the two older girls were able to hand the infants over without an issue. Suzanne was slightly taller, but skinnier than Bell, and they had roughly the same build. Bell didn't foresee any problems.

"Okay, well, is it bad that I think I might pee my pants?" Suzanne asked.

"I used to puke every time I came near this. You're doing fine." Bell gestured at the hole, then her legs. "The easiest way is to get on your back, and shimmy your upper body through. Then use your legs to push yourself all the way over, and corkscrew around to pull yourself out the other side with your arms. Here," Bell kicked up more dust. "Some guidelines."

"Gee," Suzanne coughed, lowering herself down. "Thanks so much." It took some time, and Bell was admittedly getting nauseous, but Suzanne made it through alive. Finally, Bell lowered herself down, and worked her head and shoulders through. As she bent her legs to push herself through, however, a sharp pain shot up the entire length of her left leg, and she veered sharply, and alarmingly, to the right. She heard several yelps, and slowly straightened herself out. Trying again, she found her leg immobile.

"Um…problem."

"Did you pee?"

"…" Bell could hardly find the words. "Um…no."

"Oh…okay, cause I almost did."

"Can I just say TMI? My leg's pretty banged up, I'm gonna need you to pull me through the rest of the way."

"You serious?"

"Just grab my hand, and keep me straight."

"Uh…" Bell felt sweaty, trembling fingers grip her palm.

"Keep me straight." Slowly, Suzanne pulled her through, and the entire time, Bell had to keep her mind off of her bladder. "You're gonna make me pee my pants, why did you bring that up?"

"I'm sorry, geez. But forget that, can you walk?"

"I better be able to, we're still within range of the Compound." Despite her brave words, Bell nearly screamed when she stood up. Now that the death run was over, she could tell her leg was a lot worse than she had thought. Nonetheless, she put on a brave front for the kids. "Let's go."

It was over. They had made it out. Bell almost laughed, giddy from the success of cheating death. They had made it out. The kids were giggling and skipping, despite their fatigue, and Suzanne had a huge relieved grin plastered across her face. They had survived the impossible.

They had been walking for nearly a half hour when a plane passed directly overhead, flying way too low for comfort. Immediately, their relief dropped to the bottom of their stomachs like bricks, and Bell pulled them behind a dilapidated building.

"They shouldn't have found us this quickly!" Bell whispered harshly, her mind racing in her panic. "I mean, how could they have even noticed that you were gone? This part of the neighborhood technically doesn't _exist_ anymore, how can a Decepticon be here?"

"Can they track humans, or something?" Suzanne asked. The plane flew overhead again, shutting them up.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Bell muttered. "If they can sense heat, but there's no way they could monitor the entire workforce. They may be advanced, but that is just bordering on godliness – and let's face it, these guys are not gods."

"Then something would have to have happened while we were still inside the fence. We would be goners already if they noticed us running to the boundary, right?" Bell nodded. "The only thing out of the ordinary was Mr. Gould. I mean…it seemed a little too easy, but – " Bell's head snapped up.

"That son of a –" She cut herself off, glancing warily at the kids. "He's still got connections, he's still their spy!" Hastily, she ran her hand over where the taser had been. Immediately, a small device broke off in her hand. "Damn it!" Suzanne groaned, and dropped her head in between her knees.

"He put a freaking bug on you?"

"He must have woken up and told them right off the bat. Shoot, I thought they wouldn't have needed him anymore –" Bell was cut off by a loud crash. "Shit."

"Oh we don't," Rachel, along with several other children, screamed as a large metal claw sunk into the building, red eyes suddenly boring into them from above. "But humans have, how shall I say, proved to be useful in the past." The situation was even worse than Bell had thought. "I admit, you humans are slightly more intelligent than measly insects,"

"_Starscream_."

"But only so very, _very_ slightly." There was only one good thing about Starscream: He liked to boast. "Now, bow down before me, and I might be so kind,"

"Guys, I really hate to do this to you again, but –"

"As to let you live long enough to –"

"_Run._"

"Well, I was going to say…oh nevermind. It's useless you know!" He yelled after them as they took off running again, fighting to stay together, all trying to follow Bell. His words turned her blood to ice. "But I do _so enjoy a chase_."


	5. Well This Is Just Dandy

So I guess I ought to put a little warning here. There's going to be a bit of religious talk in this, and seeing as I'm no expert in the matter, I should probably say that if I happen to offend anyone, it was not my aim whatsoever to do so, and I apologize. I hope I did an okay enough job on this chapter, it's going to be a little slower compared to the last one, and I am still a little bit iffy about the religious bit, but I felt like it made sense in the context. But give me your opinions! Is the idea a little _too_ wacky? Reviews would be greatly appreciated! (Thank you Blazestar of Shadowclan for sticking around and being supportive, and thanks for the incredibly nice reviews!)

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><p><em>Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. Freedom is the right of all sentient beings. That's what you always said, right Prime? That's what you fought for, that's what you <em>died_ for. Our freedom. I'm sorry we couldn't see it sooner, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry._ Bell couldn't stop the nonsensical babble going through her brain as she forced her damaged leg to carry her further. _If ever we find ourselves faced with a decision, where right mixes with wrong, where the answer is not simple, we shall always look within ourselves to find the strength to make that choice, and know that Prime Himself will be looking over us, and guarding our decision, our freedom. _Bell was surprised to find herself reciting bits of the new scripture. She had never been able to correctly recall it word for word before.

It was an odd phenomenon, how quickly those in The Rebellion had switched over to a polytheistic belief system. No one said other religions were false, incorrect. There may very well be a God out there. But if there was, He had left them. They couldn't find it in themselves to believe in something so unsure. If there was a God, He had given up on them. There was no way they could live, believing in a God that had abandoned them. So they turned to a new religion, one that mirrored those of the Romans and Greeks. The Rebels believed in those that had believed in them, fought for them, until the very end. The Autobots had never given up on the humans, and that was something The Rebels could believe in. Which was how Bell came to chant _Prime_ in her mind, rather than _God_, how she found herself praying to Prime, a god of leadership, justice, and of course, freedom. He had come to represent everything good in their miserable lives.

_Please Prime, help us, help us, help us. These kids can't die, I can't let it end like this. I know you're watching over us, even now. Give me the strength to save them. _Bell never admitted to it, claiming to be purely Agnostic, as she always had been before the Invasion, but she had come to rely very heavily on this new, nameless religion, based purely on the unwavering belief in the Autobots. She almost always prayed. The fact that she was almost always flirting with death might have had something to do with it. But she prayed everywhere. When she was enduring hours of endless training, suffering the torture of pushing her body past its natural limit so that she might save her own life later on, she would pray to Ironhide, a god of strength and warfare. As she ran, she could feel her leg worsening. _Oh and Ratchet…it would be great if I could still walk by the end of tonight._ Of course Ratchet would be a god of health and healing…although he was also the god of discipline. Whenever she or anyone else suffered injuries, everyone could be seen walking around the base muttering small prayers to Ratchet, waiting for a fast recovery. If they wanted a moment of normalcy, or a rare holiday came along, Jazz was on everyone's mind as…well as the 'god of partying' for a real lack of a better term. And people prayed to Que on a near regular basis, being a god of wisdom in their eyes, albeit a rather quirky one.

Of course, Bell had been praying to Bumblebee, a god of kindness and compassion, while she made the decision to shoulder the near impossible task of sneaking the orphans out. Bumblebee was always a deity that she had held particularly close to her heart, in a time where it was difficult to act on compassion. She always loved listening to Sam tell stories about his adventures with Bee, his beloved first car and best friend. Everyone aged faster than they should have with this war that seemingly came straight out of a sci-fi flick, and Sam was no exception to that rule; but when he talked about Bumblebee, his face would change into something that was becoming rarer and rarer as the days passed by: joy. He became a teenager again, a young adult whose biggest problem was finding a job, and that in itself drew people to him, and his wondrous stories.

"Oh, you can run little kiddies, but you can't hide!" Bell snapped out of her thoughts as Starscream cackled from somewhere behind them. She could tell she had lost a lot of blood at this point, as it became harder and harder to clear her mind. "Well, you can hide I suppose, but then you can't run!" He was toying with them, a particularly well-known habit of his, the only thing that made Bell grateful about his being dispatched after them. It gave her time to think. "But even if you do hide, you know, _I'll always find you_."

"Yeah, I bet you will." Bell could hear Suzanne snarl from where she was running. It was getting increasingly difficult for them to keep track of each other. The Rebels never traveled in groups larger than three for this very reason. _C'mon Bell think! _With her mind growing fuzzier by the minute, Bell was reaching a state of panic that was rare for her. _Okay, we're at the edge of the neighborhood, so even if I don't know exactly where we are, I should be within range-_

"How could I forget?" Bell cried out, startling everyone around her.

"Forget _what_?" Suzanne yelled back. Shaking her head, Bell took a sharp right, leading them into a low building. By the looks of it, it was probably some sort of shop, like a bakery.

"Get down." She whispered, waving them behind a counter. Starscream was right, they could run and hide, but not at the same time. But the counter would protect them from debris, and the material was hopefully something strong enough to hide their heat signatures for the time being. Bell didn't plan to stay there, he would find them sooner or later, but it would buy them some time for the kids to get some rest. More importantly, it bought her some very precious time for a very important conversation. Lifting her hand to her ear, the bracelet automatically switched her earpiece on, making her wince as a very loud and unpleasant sounding Sam screamed into her ear.

"What the _HELL_ is going on Bell? You've been gone for way too long, and Ryan's been picking up crazy heart rates from you!" Bell could always tell when he was at a hysterical point by the telltale crack of his voice. He was probably going to throttle her.

"Under attack, repeat, _under attack_, multiple refugees at risk! I've got Starscream on my tail Sam, requesting _immediate backup_."

"_WHAT? _Damn it Bell, what did you do now?"

"Believe me, I'd love to tell you the story, but I've got a slight issue of _this giant robot trying to kill me. _I know, I can get a bit dramatic at times, my priorities really need to get straightened out, tell you what, why don't I stop by a café and I can tell you all about my eventful night over some espressos? _How's that sound, Witwicky?_"

"Alright I got it, let me try to get a backup squad together-"

"That won't be necessary Sam," Another voice crackled to life on the line. "I've got it under control, you just get me those coordinates."

"Sending the coordinates. You're in luck Bell, it looks like you're just at the edge of our territory. You should have backup within five minutes."

"Sam, I don't know what you're idea of luck is, cause it sure as hell ain't the same as mine. How am I supposed to hold off a giant evil robot for five minutes _and_ keep a bunch of kids alive?"

"_Kids?_" He was now at the point of squeaking.

"Yes Sam, I really screwed up this time, I know. _How far away is back up?_"

"I-" She heard an exasperated sigh. "Three minutes away at best, I don't know."

"_Well get them here sooner_." Waving her arm past her ear again, she cut off Sam's squawky reply. She loved Sam, but he did not function well under stress. "Alright you guys," She glanced at the numerous pairs of wide eyes. "I'm going to have to run a quick distract and delay while we wait for backup. Can anyone take the kid?" She asked, gesturing at Jasper.

"Tie him onto my back." Suzanne said immediately, knowing full well none of the children would be able to run with the additional weight. "What are you gonna do? He's got us in a game of cat and mouse right now."

"I," Bell replied quietly, as she bound Jasper tightly against Suzanne's back. "am going to be the biggest pain in the ass mouse that ever existed. If this is cat and mouse," Bell rolled up her shirt to reveal a thin tool belt, her face turned skywards as she listened to the approaching rumble of an engine. "then he's Tom, and I'm Jerry."

"And Jerry always comes out on top." Suzanne grinned.

"Damn straight."

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><p>My ultimate goal for this chapter was to make it seem a little hazier and a little slower, to really reflect on Bell's current state of mind, what with blood gushing out of her leg wound. I imagine a person starts to get kind of fuzzy headed, and might start to slow down as they bleed out. Did I succeed? Or is there no notable difference? The cussing's a little amped up too, again to try to emphasize her panic as she tries to deal with the situation. Was it too much? I guess this is the first chapter where I'm trying to experiment again, so I really need some feedback!<p> 


	6. Suicide Mission

Well. I just spent five hours writing this, starting from midnight. It's been a long night. I think I should have slept, but this got pretty intense. While you're reading this, see if you can tell my brain was shutting itself off as I wrote. It was fun. I'm gonna go get at least a few hours of sleep, I hope my stupid decision didn't ruin this chapter, cause it's supposed to be a climactic one. Enjoy!

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><p>"Alrighty kids, you ready to rumble?" Sarcasm was something Bell always turned to when she was stressed. It also made her talkative, but something told her she wouldn't be getting out of this situation by talking Starscream's head off. "If we're where I think we are, you guys need to run due north, and you should be able to see a big red billboard, just as the streets start branching off; you're looking to make it to the heart of Downtown, okay? Just make sure you're always facing that billboard, and you'll know you're going the right way."<p>

"What are you going to-"

"Just listen to me." Bell cut Suzanne off, she could hear Starscream approaching. "There's a parking garage, behind a complex with an old deli and a pizza parlor right next to each other, a broken fountain, there should be a bridge off to your right, you'll know it when you see it, the top two floors are collapsed, but you don't have to worry about that. All you need to do-"

"Oh you might be hiding, but I can hear you!" Starscream was just outside.

"_Damn it_, the teller, where you pay, make it in there, there's a door at the very back, behind a set of filing cabinets. Not an actual door, it's a panel, just smack it as hard as you can, it'll lead to a tunnel, a really steep, rocky, downwards slope, pitch black. Slide down, don't try to walk or climb, just slide down, _trust me on this_. As soon as he tears the roof off of this place, you just run out the back exit, as fast as you can."

"We can't outrun him, he'll just-"

"You just leave him to me. Suzanne, I never make promises unless I can keep them. I've made two today. _I'm gonna get you and these kids out of this mess, you got me?_" Before Suzanne could respond, they heard the deafening crunch of metal against brick. "You take care of him, he's one of my promises." Bell pointed to Jasper, pulling a small canister from her belt. "Run."

By the time Starscream was tearing the roof off the bakery, they were flying out the back door, arms thrown over their heads as debris rained down on them. Bell sat against the counter, knees pulled up to her chest with her eyes closed, her head bobbing rhythmically, a technique she had learned to calm her nerves; her hands were shaking. This was a suicide mission.

"_Promise me, Arabell...do whatever it takes to return everything just as it was"  
>"Everything'll be okay…we'll all be really happy…right?"<br>"I will get you out of here alive. Do you believe me?"  
>If ever we find ourselves faced with a decision, where right mixes with wrong, where the answer is not simple, we shall always look within ourselves to find the strength to make that choice…<em>

Bell opened her eyes.

"Oh, we're back to running are we?" The roof was gone, and Starscream was starting to follow the kids. Bell was supposed to be the distraction.

"Come and get some." Her fingers, no longer trembling, pulled the pin out of the canister, and she stood, throwing the canister straight up with renewed strength. "YOUR FIGHT'S WITH ME!"

"Wha-?" Bell was shooting out the front door as soon as the canister left her hand, ducking between his legs, running in the completely opposite direction of the base, throwing her arms over her eyes.

"MY EYES! I'M BLIND!" Bell smiled, turning left, tumbling forward at full speed, leading him further away from the orphans.

"Yeah, you better believe it!" She laughed over her shoulder, welcoming the rush of adrenaline as an inhuman growl came after her.

"_What did you do?_" He wasn't thinking rationally at this point, and was turning in the direction he last saw the kids run, rather than listening to her like he was supposed to be. _Come on, ugly, just follow the sound of my voice, that's what blind people do!_ She took a risk.

"Haven't you ever heard of a flash grenade?" Stopping, she picked up a pebble and chucked it straight at him.

"Our optics are far more advanced than your measly organic eyes, _human_," He snarled, turning around slowly. _Good boy. Come here._ "We cannot be affected by a mere light show."

"Yeah well, this is what you'd call _adapting_. It's something we measly humans are particularly good at." _Time to go._ Bell turned and ran as he barreled towards her. Somehow, she felt like he probably wasn't going to stall anymore.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Bell really couldn't help but grin, despite the fact that she was probably gonna die tonight.

"Yeah that's the thing about being blind. You trip more often."

"Get back here!"

"…You dumb or what? Hell no!" A spark of hope flared up in her heart. He was dealing with being blind a lot worse than she had expected him to. She had a chance to lose him while he was busy stumbling over buildings. "See you in a bit, big guy. It's time for me to get lost." And she launched into a dizzying sequence of lefts and rights. After a couple minutes, she was undeniably lost, but so was Starscream, who was now a stumbling, bumbling mass several yards away. Bell could easily get a visual on him, but he couldn't see her, of course; even if he wasn't blind, she was too small from this distance. He would probably be able to see soon enough; the flash grenade wasn't capable of doing any permanent damage. There was still the issue of her body heat too; she'd stand out like a sore thumb once he got close enough to use heat detection.

"Crap…" Bell slid down against a wall, dropping into a sitting position, gripping her left knee. She could still wiggle her toes, which was probably a good thing. Refusing to look at her leg, she tried to catch her breath. There was nothing she could do, no matter how bad the cut was, and she didn't need something else to worry about right now. "Come on Bell…" She could hear him transforming in the distance. "Get up…" She was reminded of her recurring dream memory, that sequence of thoughts that had run through her head as she sat locked in a closet that night, her parents' corpses laying somewhere outside in the madness. "Get up…" _Why should I be any different? _"Get up…" _Why should I survive?_ "Get up…" _I wish I could go out there and die… _"No." _I'm not strong. _"Damn it Bell, stop. Get up." _I'm not brave_. "Stop thinking. Stop." _I'm…worthless_.

"DAMN IT, GET THE HELL UP!" Standing with a pained scream, Bell began running again, forcing her legs into the torturous, endless cycle. But she would never be able to outrun her haunted mind. _Have you changed? Have you really? How do you know this time will be any different? What makes you think you can actually save someone this time? _The unwelcome thoughts kept wriggling into her mind, and tears were beginning to blur her vision. _Why couldn't you save them, Bell? Is that why you're trying to help those orphans? Because you're an orphan too?_ _Because you couldn't even save your own sister?_ There it was. Her forbidden thought, the thing she no longer allowed herself to acknowledge. Starscream was flying overhead, shredding apart all the progress Bell had made. "Heat signature…" And that's when she saw it, a broken pipe with the impossible: running water, pouring down in a torrent. How could there possibly be running water in this place? Maybe someone really was watching over her. _They died while you hid. They died while you hid. You're nothing but a coward. Coward. Coward. _Starscream would be on top of her at any second. _Coward. Coward. COWARD. _

"SHUT. UP!" Screaming to drown out her own thoughts, Bell ran straight through the freezing wall of water, hiding her heat signature and waking her up enough to get a grip on her emotions. Immediately she hit the ground, rolling into a ball as Starscream flew over her; the dark clothes would hide her, in case he was able to see. Now she had the advantage. Finishing her somersault, she pulled a small handgun from her waist; lying flat on the ground, his engines were completely exposed. Closing one eye, she aimed, and pulled the trigger. "Damn it…" He was going way too fast, and she was shivering from the cold, her arms shaking uncontrollably. She aimed again, steading her arm with her other hand, and pulled the trigger. _Once. Twice. And the third time's the charm. _"Heh…" It wouldn't be enough to kill him, but it was a blow that would leave a scar. Bell had barely gotten onto her feet when the aftershock of the exploding engine reached her, violently tossing her through the air, her head smacking a post before she was able to twist herself around, so that her back hit the wall of the closest building, minimizing the damage. It didn't stop the jolt of pain from traveling down the entirety of her body, and she hit the ground with a dull thud. Without wasting a second, she was immediately on her hands and knees, searching for the gun, coughing, down but not out. "At least there isn't any glass around…" Nonetheless, there was a steady throb in the back of her head, and the feel of blood trickling down her temple was unmistakable. Chance of survival: near zero percent. But her own life hadn't been the one she was trying to save. As long as Starscream was over here, the orphans were safely getting away.

"Holy _shit!_" Bell blinked, finally collapsing against the wall with her legs spread out wide. Her leg was drenched with blood, and she could tell she had several broken ribs, but hope flickered to life in her heart again. She knew that voice, that tone. Coughing, Bell tasted blood, but smiled and began to laugh anyways.

"Epps? _You're_ my backup?"

"Yeah! What the hell was that, Bell? I never taught you that!"

"I've been full of surprises today Epps. Is Lennox with you?"

"Right here, Bell-" She could hear him coming to kneel by her.

"No, stay where you are, Starscream isn't out of the fight yet. I just wanted to let you know…I nailed the reverse heel kick earlier." She grinned as he laughed.

"Seriously? After all this time, you just suddenly got it? On who?" Bell coughed in embarrassment.

"Uh…Gould."

"For real?" Epps was speaking again. "By the way, you look like crap."

"Yeah…thanks for the update."

"Whoa whoa whoa, look alive boys, _incoming!_ Bell-!"

"I got ya." Curling against the wall, Bell shielded herself from the explosion of the incoming missile, which had, thankfully, not been aimed well.

"You INSOLENT HUMAN!"

"This isn't good."

"GET OUTTA HERE BELL!" It was becoming ridiculously more difficult to get on her feet every time she tried, and her head pounded with renewed strength as she ran along the length of the crumbling wall, and dove into a side alley as another missile hit the ground, closer than the first. Too close for comfort. Bell was finally convinced she was hallucinating as Suzanne jumped through the flames licking the edge of the alley, and skidded to a stop in front of her.

"Arabell! You okay?"

"Crap. I've finally lost it. EPPS, WHAT'S SHE DOING HERE?"

"CAN'T REALLY TALK!" As if to emphasize his point, the_ ratatatatatat _of automatic firearms tore through the night.

"Fine then, LENNOX?"

"We ran into the kids on our way out, she insisted on coming along. Something about helping you keep a promise!" Bell stared at Suzanne.

"The kids are safe?" Suzanne pulled her into a hug, shocking her into silence.

"They're safe, all thanks to you. I really owe you one, Arabell." Bell sat motionlessly, then laughed once, wrapping one arm around Suzanne's shoulders. The kids were safe.

"You dummy. Why the heck would you come back?"

"You're part of our family now, Arabell. I'm taking you back, more or less in one piece, or else I'll be breaking my own promise."

"What promise is that?"

"That I'll never lose someone I care about, ever again." Tears were already spilling over Bell's cheeks. She couldn't function with emotions.

"I've got three things to say: First, you're making me cry. Stop that. Second, I'm not going back, not until they do too. And third, stop calling me Arabell. You make me feel like an old lady."

"Alright then, Bell," Suzanne laughed, letting her go. "You get to call me Suzie. And we're all gonna live tonight."

"You better believe it." Bell grinned, feeling an entirely new sense of kinship. "Tell me, is Starscream still a plane, or is he showing his face?"

"He's walking around on two feet."

"Good. Listen, I'm gonna need your help."

"Whatever you need."

"Help me jump off a building."

"…have you been feeling depressed? Has it been feeling harder to get up every morning, cause they prescribe stuff for that you know. We're all here to help you, Bell."

"I'm not suicidal!" Suzanne giggled, actually looking ecstatic despite the situation.

"You could've fooled me!"

"Suzie. Get me on that roof. I'm ending this."

"I've got you, I've got you." Gripping Bell's hand, Suzie pulled her onto her feet. "What roof?"

"Two buildings down. It's an old apartment, so it should be relatively easy to scale, and it's nice and high too."

"Is it dangerous?" Suzie asked as they ducked behind old buildings, out of the line of fire.

"Isn't everything?"

"Point taken." Without another word, Bell hefted herself onto the lowest ledge of the apartment. "Stairs aren't an option I'm assuming?"

"I'm not gonna risk it. The building could technically collapse at any second, it's not in the best shape, and there are missiles being fired."

"So we're climbing it."

"Pretty much. You coming?" Bell heard an exasperated sigh.

"_Sure!_ Why _wouldn't_ I come?" Bell was joking around, but she was dangerously close to passing out. Still, she forced herself to climb level after level of the apartment, doing some pretty heavy damage to her leg even though she was trying to favor it.

Near the top of the building, Bell finally noticed something that had been bothering her – the red billboard was looming just overhead.

"Aw, seriously?"

"What?"

"I got so lost I led him in a circle. We're right next to the base."

"Then I guess your plan had better work, huh?"

"_I guess so._" Pulling herself onto the roof, Bell turned around and pulled Suzie up. "I'm gonna need you to give me a serious boost. The building's not tall enough." Rummaging around in the various pockets of her little tool belt, Bell found what she was looking for.

"Like, how much of a boost are we talking here?"

"I'm pretty much just going to need you to throw me."

"…great!"

"It'll be fun. You ready?"

"Yes. Wait no…okay. No no, wait!" Rolling her eyes, Bell backed up to the edge of the roof, facing Suzie, who had her back to Starscream and the havoc he was causing below, proving that she was either brave or reckless. Then again, Bell wasn't much better.

"Just get off the roof as soon as I'm off, okay? Shit's about to get real."

"I'm not ready."

"Too freaking bad." Bell ran straight at Suzie, who locked her hands together at the last moment, caught Bell's foot, and launched her upward with incredible upper body strength, immediately running for the edge of the building, swinging herself over legs first. Bell flew through the air, hurtling towards Starscream. This was going to hurt.

"AGH!" She couldn't help screaming as she slammed straight into cold, sharp metal, and had to fight to get a grip as she fell back towards the ground.

"What? What's that? Get off me human!" Bell had been hoping to land by his neck, but she had slid to his shoulder instead. It was going to have to do. Hanging on with one hand, she pulled the cap off the small cylinder with her teeth.

"Am I fulfilling my role as a pest yet? I think I'm doing a pretty good job, insects always crawl all over you, and leave some pretty nasty _bite marks_!" Plunging the sharp end into the metal, Bell kicked off with her feet, flipping to catch herself on the railing of a balcony on the apartment.

"Ow! What is that? What did you do?"

"Fire in the hole!" As Starscream flailed, one claw lashed straight out at her. "Aw crap." Letting go, she just barely missed getting crushed, but found herself tumbling down from several stories in the air.

"You just _never _stop do you?" Epps grunted, catching Bell as she braced herself for the impact.

"Epps," Bell's head lolled dangerously on her neck, and she fought to stay conscious. "There's an explosive in his shoulder." As she spoke, Starscream transformed, flying straight up. The heat from his remaining engines threatened to burn them all to a crisp as they hit the ground. As he flew, a small explosion blew part of the wing off, sending him careening out of control.

"Retreat, RETREAT!" Lennox screamed, several of them already long gone. Starscream passed dangerously low overhead, before managing to straighten himself.

"Epps, let me go," Bell demanded, her voice growing desperate and panicked. "Let me go, Epps, please, Epps, _SUZIE_!" Forcing herself out of his arms, Bell ran back towards the apartment.

"Bell!" He called after her.

"Suzie!" Rounding the corner, Bell found Suzie lying unconscious on the ground, her hair matted with blood. "_Suzie_." Starscream was flying levelly at a low altitude now, and Bell realized with horror that he was planning to blow them all to Hell. "_SUZIE WAKE UP, WE'RE ALL GONNA LIVE TONIGHT, REMEMBER SUZIE, REMEMBER? DON'T BREAK YOUR FUCKING PROMISE!" _

"Aw, quit your screeching already…" Bell found herself staring into those familiar steely green orbs, fogged over with what was probably a concussion. "No one's breaking any promises." Pulling her up, Bell dragged Suzie along, noticing that she was harboring a broken leg.

"EPPS!" He was already there, having followed her, and picked Suzie up without a word, running straight for the parking garage. Bell hung behind, running backwards, pulling out her own handgun while swiping Epps's as well. _Give me the strength…_

Screaming, Bell pulled the triggers as rapidly as she could, praying she might hit Starscream's fuel tank. One more engine gave out, but her luck was out – a missile was already flying towards her. Dropping the guns, she turned and ran for the parking garage. The last thing she saw was Suzie's terrified face, tears streaming down her face, with her mouth open in a scream.

"_BELL!_"

_Take care of the kids, Suzie. _


	7. Reminiscence

Sorry about the cliffhanger guys, but I wrote up the next chapter pretty quickly, cause to be honest, I don't have an outline, I'm just writing as I go, and I was dying to know what happened next too. So go on. Satisfy your curiosity.

* * *

><p>"<em>Tell me a story."<em>

"_What story do you want me to tell?" _

"_Tell me about the first time you met him. The first time they came."_

"_Don't you ever get bored of this?"_

"_You gonna tell it or not?"_

"_Okay, the first time…well, my dad told me I could get a new car if I got two thousand dollars and three A's. I was…ecstatic when I managed to pull it off. Heh, at first he psyched me out, tricked me into thinking I was getting a Porsche. Probably would have been better if he had just gotten me the Porsche."_

"_Who are you trying to fool?"_

"_No, it wouldn't have. You're right, of course. But at the time, I was just pissed that he was getting me a piece of crap for my first car; the salesman was walking around, making everything sound like a way bigger deal than it was. But when I saw that old, yellow Camaro, with racing stripes…"_

"_You knew."_

"_I just knew. That was my car. And it really gave me one hell of a ride."_

"_How did you actually meet him though? Tell me that story."_

"_You never get tired of this?"_

"_Never."_

"_You're ridiculous. One night, I heard a car engine rev, and saw a Camaro pull out of the driveway and into the street. My Camaro. I made this huge deal, screaming and yelling, calling the cops, all while chasing after this car on a freaking bike. But when I finally caught up with the thief, I saw that there wasn't a thief. Right there in front of me, my car was standing up. I freaked. Some killer dogs that were lounging around started chasing me. I didn't bother them, they just starting coming after me. They were probably rabid."_

"_Yeah right."_

"_No really. I almost died that night. I thought I was gonna die."_

"_And then he saved you."_

"_Yep. Yellow, black, tires screeching, he had those dogs flying out of there, while I peed my pants a little. I had no idea what was going on; I threw my keys at him, ran out of there, and got arrested for stealing my own car. Would you quit laughing?"_

"_You were so dumb. I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous."_

"_Yeah, it never gets old for you does it?"_

"_Not one bit. Keep going. My favorite parts are coming up."_

"_You've heard them all a million times."_

"_You're not allowed to stop here, Sam. Commit."_

"_Okay, fine. So the next day, the car's back right? So I…freak out again."_

"_Of course."_

"_Be quiet, will you? So I pretty much just…ran away from my own car on my mother's bike - if you don't wipe that grin off your face, I'm not saying another word."_

"_Okay okay, I'm sorry. Go on."_

"_So while I'm running away, I slam into this police car's door. And I think there's a policeman inside, so I'm rambling to this policeman about my…predicament, when the car suddenly starts harassing me. It was not cool. I thought the guy was just mad…that was before the car transformed in this huge ass robot, screaming my eBay username at me, asking about my grandfather's glasses. So I'm running away from this thing-"_

"_Wait wait wait. What was your username again?"_

"_You're pushing it."_

"_Come on. The story's not complete without it."_

"…_LadiesMan217, happy?"_

"_You were such a dorky teenager."_

"_Yeah, every teenager was back then. So I'm running away from this monster, and run straight into my raving crush at the time, Mikaela, who's flipping a bitch on me while I'm trying to explain that I've got a giant evil robot chasing me. See, back then, it was not such a normal thing."_

"_Even I was alive then, Sam, I don't need the recap."_

"_I just like to remind myself. It gets hard to remember sometimes. But just when I thought we were done for, my car comes to my rescue again. So we have this incredibly stressful high speed chase scene, until he stops and dumps us. Just dumps us. And then does the impossible, the most incredible thing I have ever and will ever see. He transformed, and protected us. So while he's fighting, Mikaela and I-"_

"_Yeah yeah, your romantic near death fighting experience. I don't wanna hear this part."_

"_Hey now-"_

"_You know I only care about the robots. Skip to the good part. What was it like, when they came?"_

"_It was…incredible. Like flaming angels sent from heaven."_

"_Sent to protect us."_

"_Yeah, Bell." Bell…_

Suzanne cracked open her eyes. That was one hell of a dream. "Ungh…" Her head hurt, and she could barely stand the light. "Bell…" Squinting, a tear unexpectedly spilled over her temple, and she tried to remember what had happened. They had escaped, Bell had saved them. And Bell had…Oh god. Suzanne couldn't remember anything past screaming Bell's name. She had passed out before they ever reached the tunnel.

"So you're awake? Take it easy. You've got a broken leg and a concussion."

"You're not much better."

"Put a sock in it Sam."

"At least you're alive. Nobody thought you were gonna make it."

"Yeah…I know." Suzanne's eyes snapped fully open despite their sensitivity, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Bell!" Pushing herself up, Suzanne winced as a jolt of pain shot down her spine. But sure enough, there she was, sitting daintily in a plastic chair, smiling at Suzanne. "You're…you're alive!"

"Yeah. Miraculously." Bell's smile was weak and tired, and her face was battered and bruised – a split lip, a gash running down the side of her face, her right eye almost swollen shut. Wearing a white wool sweater, with grey sweatpants, she looked smaller, and more vulnerable. But the spark in her eye was still the same. "And so are the orphans. The backup team too. Unfortunately, so is Starscream, but I'm not really complaining right now." The guy Suzanne assumed was Sam, stood, nodding at her, and left quietly.

"You're…you're…" And Suzanne did something she hadn't done in years. She broke down into tears, of relief and happiness, things she had never thought she would feel again. Things she was convinced she had forgotten. But here she was, out of the compound, and everyone was alive, despite the odds. After an entire night of the odds being stacked against them, they succeeded. So after years of never allowing herself to show any form of weakness, Suzanne laughed, and she cried.

Eventually, she calmed down enough to talk again. Rubbing the tears away, she looked at Bell again, noticing the mug cradled in her hands. Bell smiled again.

"You're probably thirsty." Suzie nodded, noticing it for the first time. "Here." Bell stood, and limped to the side of the bed. "It's chamomile tea. It's kind of a cure-all, I loved the stuff when I was a kid. It helps anxiety, relaxes you, relieves muscle spasms, back pains…it pretty much does everything, a universal remedy for all kinds of ailments. A medicinal tea. And it's sweet. It couldn't be more perfect." Sipping at it, Suzie had to agree. It _was_ sweet, and smelled incredible; she could feel herself slowly unwinding, and relaxing, an unfamiliar feeling.

"Is your leg alright?" She asked Bell, having noticed the limp.

"It'll heal. Turns out the cut was deep enough the screw up some of the tendons, and scrape up a muscle or something. I've been ordered to take a medical leave of absence."

"By who?" Suzie asked, curious to find out more about the Rebellion now.

"The same guy that fixed you up as nicely as you are." A new voice spoke, and Bell rolled her eyes, grinning again. "Everyone decent?"

"Like you give a crap." A hand grabbed the edge of the curtain to the right of Suzanne's cot, and shoved it aside.

"No need to be so hostile now. If it weren't for me, that leg would probably be long gone by now, Bell." A blonde man looking to be in his mid-twenties strolled in, one hand shoved into the pocket of his lab coat, the other gripping a clipboard. "Show at least a bit of gratitude."

"Suzanne," Bell said, ignoring him. "This is Ryan, the resident medic around this place. A lot of us owe our lives to him, unfortunately."

"I can take away your painkillers. You'd better show some respect soon. How's the new girl doing?" Without waiting for an answer, he peeled back Suzie's eyelid with one hand, and shined a light into it with the other. Jerking away violently, she smacked his hand away. "Well it doesn't look like it's a major concussion, her pupils don't dilate, in fact they constricted rather beautifully just now. You have lovely green eyes."

"Easy doc, she just woke up." Paying Bell no attention, he continued speaking to Suzie.

"Any light sensitivity?" Squinting, Suzie batted his hand away again, and nodded reluctantly.

"_This_ is your doctor?"

"He gets the job done."

"I'm right here ladies. Alright, if you feel any dizziness, nausea, notice signs of forgetfulness, come to me immediately, alright? For now, I'm just going to give you regular doses of acetaminophen, no ibuprofen or aspirin, got it?"

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable with the thought of you drugging me."

"I'll let you girls get back to your lovely conversation." Clicking a pen with finality, he swooped out of the room, dramatically pulling the curtain shut again. For a moment, the girls sat blinking at each other, before bursting into a giggling fit.

"Ow, stop, my ribs are broken!" Bell gasped, wrapping her arm around her chest.

"You're not alone!" Finally, they managed to calm down, and Suzanne sipped her tea once more before asking the big question. "So, what happened?" Bell's eyes turned unexpectedly distant.

"I'm not really sure…luck…I guess?" She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "That missile was gonna hit. I was sure it was gonna hit. You saw it too."

"Yeah…"

"I don't know, I did the only thing I know how to do, I just ran. Somehow, it just…it didn't hit me. I felt like there was a flash or something, and there was this huge sound, and suddenly I'm being blown off to the side, instead of being blown up. I realized what happened later." Bell laughed, her hand resting over her eyes now. "The explosive I planted in his shoulder, the wing – it had a secondary charge. I grabbed the wrong one. That kind is made to explode once, to create some sort of distraction, while triggering a second, way more powerful explosion. It was designed to be used as a trap; you're supposed to plant it somewhere, and shoot it from a distance. The smaller explosion would bring the enemy over to investigate, and by that time the second charge would go off. The second explosion blew off half his wing and he shot out of there. Without a wing, it's pretty hard to stabilize yourself. He ran into the missile, bumped it off its original course just enough that it would still dole out some pretty serious damage…but it wouldn't kill me. I got banged up pretty badly," Bell gestured at her face. "But I'm alive. When does that kind of thing happen?" Suzanne shook her head in amazement.

"I don't know. But I'm glad it did." Grinning, Bell pointed at her head and leg.

"Your turn. How the hell did that happen?" Suzie sipped the tea again, thinking back to what happened after she jumped over the edge of the building. "I saw you jump…then what?"

"Well, Starscream was kind of freaking out, and hit the apartment pretty hard."

"You fell?"

"Well yeah…and then the wall fell on top of me." Suzie winced at the memory.

"_What?_"

"Yeah. I probably got the broken leg from landing, the concussion probably came from the wall."

"You were unconscious when I found you, but there wasn't anything on top of you."

"Yeah I…lifted it off."

"You what?"

"It was crushing me; I could barely keep it from snapping all my ribs."

"How did you-?" Suzie shook her head.

"I don't know. I was panicking, and I just kind of freaked out. I only remember pushing like crazy, thinking about this one time I lifted the edge of a car to get Josef out, when the invasion first started. It's not the first time I've done something like that…but I can only pull it off in a hopeless situation. I just…" She shrugged. "Stop thinking, and my instincts take over. But the pain always makes me pass out." Bell was slack jawed.

"You…Oh."

"What?"

"Nothing it's just…Ryan was saying your muscles were really unresponsive in one arm or something; they felt like they had almost been torn from the bone, as if you had put a lot of stress on them."

"But my arm feels okay."

"He said it'd heal in a couple days, those injuries heal faster, but you're also doped up on a ton of pain medication. You're not gonna be feeling a lot for a while."

"…That's nice to know." Bringing the mug up to finish off the tea, Bell spoke up.

"Suzie."

"Huh?"

"We really did it." Suzie grinned, the edge of the mug still held against her lips. _Yeah…we really did._ Tipping her head back, she downed the last bit of the tea.

"What'd I tell you? I never doubted for a second."

* * *

><p>So just in case it wasn't clear, the conversation at the beginning was between Bell and Sam, meant to seem kind of dream-like, because Suzanne was listening to it while she was unconscious. To be honest, I was originally planning for that to be one of Suzie's recurring dreams, one that had been haunting her ever since Bell's death. Yeah...I was originally planning to kill her off. But I apparently get too attached to my characters, so...agh. I had a completely different plot in my head, where Suzie would wake up five years in the future as the story's main protagonist...and Bell just kind of ran through my brain and shot it. I'm weak when it comes to killing off characters. So I figured I may as well add that plot bunny (that got shot) in here as a little added bonus. This feels like an ending...<br>I'm planning to write more though, so disregard the feeling.


	8. Just Say No

Okay, I know I had been belting them out earlier, and then I just kind of stopped. I had orchestra camp...like the true nerd I am. So I'm settling back into my screwed up stay-up-really-late-writing kind of schedule, and I am happy with it. But basically, I just kind of wrote a little filler chapter-not much goes on in this. I'm more excited to write the next chapter, so keep your fingers crossed that my luck with writer's block continues. This is pretty much my longest block-free streak I've ever had. :) I was really tempted to italicize like half of this chapter, but I think I've been overusing that function. I'm addicted to the little italicize button. It's a love-hate relationship. So anyways, enjoy this fluffy little thing I call a chapter until I get my plot going again!

* * *

><p>As she slowly healed, Suzanne lost her sense of time, and became convinced that she was slowly losing her grip on reality as well. Since the little painkillers hadn't been doing the job for her, they had pulled out the big guns: Sedatives. Most of the time she was unconscious, but there were some odd moments where she was conscious and lucid, though her memories and dreams began to blur after a while. Through it all, Bell was constantly there, not confined to a bed like Suzie was, but in the infirmary almost as often. Her face and Ryan's were the only ones that Suzie saw on a regular basis now.<p>

"Alright, let's see how we're doing here." At this point Suzie had become sick of him shining lights into her eyes without warning, and immediately slapped the small device out of his hand. "Don't be so feisty, believe it or not I'm actually here to help you Suzie."

"I never gave you permission to call me by a nickname." She snarled. Bell sighed with a tired smile, sitting on the cot to her left.

"I really hate to say it, but he's right Suzie. You should let him do his job." Bell smirked as Suzie pulled a rather unattractive facial expression. As soon as she saw Ryan pull out a tongue depressor, she was baring her hypothetical fangs.

"You bring your hand anywhere near my mouth, Doc, and I swear you will be bringing back a stub." Snorting, Bell swung her legs onto her cot and flopped back onto the pillow.

"Popsicle sticks have nothing to do with any of her injuries, Ryan." She offered helpfully, turning away from them in the hopes of getting some sleep.

"It's always a good idea to perform a regular physical. And from the looks of you, _Suzanne_" He held out both syllables of her name. "You probably haven't had one in a while."

"Ph-physical? Oh, hell no Doc, that ain't happening. First it's all needles and pills, then running around on treadmills with electrodes, fighting alligators-"

"Suzie, _what_ are you talking about?" Propping herself up on her elbow as she favored her leg, Bell stared at Suzie as if she had grown two heads. "Have you _ever_ had a physical before?"

"A'course I have. Privacy wasn't in the dictionary. It was not a cool experience."

"Then…the treadmills and alligators…?" Bell left the question hanging in the air. Suzie blinked at her in surprise.

"Did I just call that a physical? Nah, that's a recurring nightmare. Ever since I was a kid. My teddy bear would try to eat the orphans." Intrigued, Bell slid back into a sitting position.

"Did you know the orphans from before the invasion?"

"Huh? No, how could I have? Most of them probably hadn't even been _conceived_ yet when I was having those nightmares…aw, crap." Bell noted with worry that the bags under Suzie's eyes hadn't been going away.

"It's perfectly normal for your memories to become muddled-" Ryan was muttering, as he scribbled furiously on his clipboard.

"Aw, shaddup Doc. I can't talk right. Hell, I can't think right. You drugged me again didn't you? I was feelin' fine!"

"Oh believe me, after about an hour off of your regular dosage, you would be writhing around in pain, begging me to-"

"Just say another word, Doc. I dare ya." As she stared at him, the normal mischievous look in his bright green eyes was replaced by a…gentle sort of fondness. It was enough to send her muddled brain into a speechless bout of confusion, as she searched for her next insult. Stowing away his pen, he patted her on the head and chuckled.

"You just rest up, got it?" Swinging her arms sloppily, Suzie finally slumped further down her stack of pillows, and pouted.

"Who does he think he is?" Bell's quiet laugh calmed her down immediately.

"He's got his flaws, but he really is a good medic. He looks out for all of us. I don't doubt that he'd probably put his life on the line to save any of us if it ever came down to it." The more she talked, in her hushed, whispery way, the stronger the tug of sleep felt to Suzie, pulling her under. "But he really can't fight worth anything, so it probably won't ever come down to that. Besides, he's pretty much our only real medic around here, he's only got a couple of interns, and let's face it, they're not quite capable of performing intensive surgery yet." Glancing over at Suzie's sleeping form, Bell smiled. "I just send you right off, don't I?"

"You're a lot more talkative when you're around her." She heard Ryan say through the curtains.

"Yeah well…she's a friend you know? Stubborn little Suzanne...I never thought I'd actually grow to like you, and yet, here we are. If life were still normal-" Bell stifled a yawn. "We might have been gossiping about boys together…instead of deadly robots…no, I think I still would have taken the robots."

"Bell." Ryan's voice was surprisingly stern, a tone he used only when he was worried about his patients. "Get some sleep. You don't need to watch over her down here."

"I know, I know. It's just…I don't know, PTSD or something." Sighing, she turned over onto her side again, resting her head on her elbow. "Sweet dreams, Suzanne. Although it doesn't sound like you have very sweet dreams at all…"

* * *

><p>"Hey. Hey, Suzie. I'm gonna go take a walk around the Base, alright? I'll bring you some more of that tea. Rest up." Suzie could barely find the strength to open her eyes. From the back of her drug-induced-sleep ridden mind, she made the connection the Bell must have had her 'medical leave of absence' revoked. She felt something along the lines of jealousy, resentment, but mostly a dire need to get rid of her pounding headache. Mustering a small, meek groan, she managed to toss an arm over her eyes and dive back into blissful unconsciousness.<p>

* * *

><p>"Well…well yeah. She did do pretty great, didn't she?"<p>

"Hey, you didn't do so badly yourself."

"Watch it!" Playful laughter. The sound was still so unfamiliar. "It's great that you guys are visiting. I wish she was awake, she doesn't see many faces around here."

"Well what can I say? We were impressed. That was some pretty gutsy stuff out there Bell."

"Gutsy or stupid. This chick jumped offa the damn building and planted the wrong bomb on an alien's shoulder. And this one," Suzie could sense, even in her mostly unconscious state, that they were talking about her. "Bell tell you the story?"

"She lifted an entire wall. Yeah, hard not to spread rumors around about it. You two really stepped up to the plate that night."

"If I hadn't been trying so hard not to crap my pants, I probably woulda cried, girl that was some badass stuff."

"Gee, Epps, you sure do have a way of putting things…"

"Seriously though, Bell. Consider our offer."

"Well, I don't know, Lennox, I'm not really sure what she'll say. I'm all up for the first part anyways…I wouldn't mind having a partner in crime."

"Well, you think about the second half too then. Hell, I need to think about it, I can't believe I'm even making this an option."

"You better make up your mind fast, before he changes his, Bell. You know how he gets, newborn baby and all that."

"Speaking of which, it's time for me to see if I can scrounge together a scrambled signal. C'mon Epps, let's let the new recruit rest."

"Hey, I'm a riot to have around, it's your loud-" Their voices were cut off as a door slid shut behind them. Bell chuckled.

"Well Suzie, we have got a lot to think about when you wake up, I guess…"

* * *

><p>Suzanne blinked rapidly, trying to get her foggy eyes to adjust to the light. Slowly, her eyelids cracked apart, and she stared quietly at the flickering bright white light source, her ears taking in the low hum that it emitted as electricity crackled through the fluorescent tubes. She was awake. She was lucid, sane. Using her elbows, she pushed herself into a sitting position, and jolts of pain traveled up the lengths of both her arms. She noticed, absent-mindedly, that her leg was out of the ridiculous sling, and tucked under her blanket, fully functional. Taking a deep breath, she relished the feeling of a healed rib cage. There was still a dull throb in the back of her head, but the intensity of the pain was nowhere near what it had been earlier. All things considered, she felt great!<p>

"Hey! Look who's finally awake!" Suzie looked up to find Bell in the doorway, her hands bracing each side, keeping the automatic doors from sliding shut on her.

"Bell-" Coughing, Suzie tried to get rid of the croak in her voice, failing miserably. Still, she had a cocky grin plastered on her face. "_You_ look a lot better." Following her gaze, Bell looked over herself, and shrugged, smirking back. She was sauntering around barefoot in dark denim short shorts and a black cami, with her short hair tied back into a small stub. She could have been a normal girl walking around her beach house.

"We'll get you out of those hideous drapes eventually, but for now-" Suzie immediately tensed up, seeing a mischievous glint creep into Bell's eyes. "There are a few people that want to see you!" As several little heads popped around the corner, Suzie understood why Bell had been wrestling the doors the entire time.

"_Hey!_" A warm happiness slowly invaded Suzanne's hardened heart, as she opened her arms to the orphans that were now flooding in. Bell made some half-hearted attempts to control them as the smaller ones excitedly clambered onto the bed with her, others pressing in around from the sides. It was a cacophonous mixture of screams, laughter, and excited squeals for a while, before everyone calmed down enough to actually have a conversation with one another. "How have you guys been doing?" Suzie asked excitedly. "Is it cool here? Better than the Compound?" Again, she had to wait it out as they all replied simultaneously, shrieking excitedly trying to be heard over each other. "Hey now, calm down-"

"I heard it was pretty intimidating for them at first," Bell cut in as she lifted a toddler that was jumping a little too excitedly by Suzie. "But they've managed to adapt pretty well I think. We don't have many small kids around the Base, so they've just been pampered to death. Haven't you now?" She said in mock seriousness, as she poked the toddler in the belly.

"How long has it been?" Suzie was almost afraid to ask. Bell looked at her sympathetically.

"Almost three weeks at this point." Suzanne's jaw dropped.

"What were these guys-"

"People were taking turns babysitting them. Kind of in shifts. This place is built as a fortress for a huge human population, so we had plenty of empty rooms sitting around to act as sort of a daycare-" Bell winced as a couple of the older kids glared at her. "Sorry, youth…room. They weren't separated, and most of the civilian staff was taking care of them while I was here. They were living the life while we were, you know, unconscious. But hey, the good news! You'll be free to go later today!"

"I…am?"

"Yeah! And you've got quite a bit to catch up on. You impressed a lot of people." Suzanne opened her mouth to retort, when-

"Sissy Suzie!" Looking down, she found Rachel plopped in her lap. "We gotta tell her all about us now that you're all better with us." Bell placed her hand on her hips.

"Yeah." She scoffed. "These little buggers wouldn't tell me anything about themselves until you woke up. I don't know over half of their names." In unison, all of the orphans stuck their tongues out at Bell, Suzie included. "Oh what, you even rehearsed the synchronized insults? Nice. Real classy, Suze."

"Suze? I never said you could-" She broke down into giggles as Bell stuck her tongue out at them, creating the perfect image of a cheeky teenage girl. "Okay, okay! Let's get these introductions out of the way so I can book it out of here." Shifting around, they allowed Bell to sit among them. "Get comfortable, this could take a bit."

"Let's do an introduction circle!" A cute girl, with ginger hair tied into pigtails piped up. Pushing large glasses up her nose, she reminded Bell vaguely of the classic cute cartoon nerd. "I'll start." She declared with a winning grin, showing off a mouth full of perfectly straight teeth covered in braces. "I'm Janice, Janice Loreti. I just turned thirteen, my favorite color is blue, and I love to read. Nice to meet you!"

"Pffft!" A boy to her left snorted, his curly brown hair bobbing as he laughed. He was obviously in need of a haircut soon. "You're seriously nerdy Jan."

"It's better than being a hygiene deficient-"

"Shh. Don't fight right now guys. Keep going." Suzie's gentle smile won them over immediately.

"Hiya, I'm Bryce Malster, and I'm eleven, and I like running!"

"I'm Rachel and I'm five, and I love Bell for keeping Jasper safe!" Rachel cut in, throwing her small arms around Bell's neck. Bell blinked rapidly, shocked that they were bringing her to tears, when she had finally thought that nothing else could possibly rattle her. As much as she would love to say she had no idea what was coming over her, she quietly admitted it to herself in the back of her mind. They had accepted her into the family. Her own little family, different from her family at the Base. Suzie's smile showed that she understood, knew that exact feeling. The smirk that followed, however, had a much less reassuring message.

'_You've got a lot of names to learn.'_


	9. The Further Adventures of Suzie and Bell

Hey! Well, it's been awhile since I've looked at this story. It feels like it's been forever, and a ton of stuff has happened...but really, school only started, and that's about as exciting as it gets. To be quite honest I've missed this story, even though I haven't really thought about. It's my happy place, which is a bit twisted, considering it's a very depressing setting. The conversations that my characters have with each other hopefully lighten the mood substantially though, because I don't like depressing stories. I like to aim for more of a depressing setting that the characters fight off with their bright personalities. Tell me if they do the trick or not, I probably need more characters. Once Suzie's completely healed they'll start running around more, and we'll get to meet more people! :D And then you know...I do plan to bring some actual transformers into the mix, it's just taking a lot more build-up than I had originally anticipated. So wish me luck in my academic endeavors, and review please!

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><p>"Nn…" Bell scratched her head and bit her thumbnail, staring at it in irritation as she noticed that it was already bitten to the bed. "Where'd my nail go…?" She muttered, not completely thinking the statement through.<p>

"Bell." Suzie's tone was sardonic. "Please tell me you did not just ask me that." Looking away in embarrassment, Bell couldn't quite find the right words to explain her airheadedness.

"I wasn't asking you." It was the best she could come up with. Suzie's cocked eyebrow was more than enough to get the message across: Bell wasn't fooling anyone.

"You know, I didn't ask you to help me with the rehab," Suzie pointed out, glaring viciously at her leg fresh out of the cast. "There were lots of nice ladies willing to help me. Not to mention some nice looking men, too." As she waggled her eyebrows, Bell couldn't help but snicker. "Seriously though, I don't even need the nice looking men's help. I have these perfectly nice poles to keep me on my feet." Bell could sense that Suzie was having a hard time dealing with her injury. Though she had been free from the bed for a while, her leg was not going to cooperate with her. She probably wasn't used to dealing with any kind of weakness; if it weren't for all the people in the base, she would have already been forcing herself to walk around, doing a lot more damage to it than she could understand.

"No, I want to help."

"Yeah, fat lot of help you are sitting over there talking to yourself." Bell shot her a condescending look.

"I'd help if you'd _let_ me. Every time I try to do my job you end up hurting yourself more trying to wave me off."

"I don't need a freaking chaperone to walk from one end of these poles, turn around, and do it again and again and again. If you would just listen to me and let me run some laps, I'd be all good by now, instead of hobbling around like some useless freaking cripple."

"Suzie, rehab is about fixing yourself, not doing some stupid superhuman crap. It doesn't take a genius to realize that the impact from running would probably freshen up a break."

"You callin' me dumb, fool?"

"Oh we're playing that card, are we?" Bell chuckled. She could sympathize, having had her fair share of rehab sessions in the past, though she had never cleanly broken a bone. It did get boring, and having a companion to vent on was a very important part of the process.

"This is taking forever, and I'm a useless sitting duck over here!"

"First of all, it's not taking forever; you're recovering at twice the normal rate. You really shouldn't be complaining. Secondly, you're not sitting; you're walking to the end of that mat and turning around to do it again. Thirdly, quack. You'd make a hell of a duck."

"Yeah, I'd bite your frickin' ankles and make you regret ever meeting me, stupid smug little…" Suzie's angry babble trailed off as she began to focus on a new task, experimentally placing more weight on her injured leg.

"Suzie…" The warning tone was not enough to stop the hotheaded blonde. With a frustrated growl, she shoved the support beams aside, which tipped over agonizingly slowly, and landed with a satisfying thud. "_Suzie. Don't be an idiot._"

"Shut up, Bell." Taking a step, Suzie began to walk, picking up speed.

"Stop it," Bell stood up so quickly her cheap plastic chair flipped over. Catching sight of her approaching form, Suzie fell right into a run, wincing as a near unbearable pain shot up her leg. Ignoring it with gritted teeth, she fell into an admirably fast pace, but not fast enough to outrun an already healed Bell. "Suzie, stop this-"

"I said _shut up_." Whirling around Suzie caught Bell by surprise with a solid left hook. Bell stumbled back, holding her cheek. "Whoa…Bell, look how far I just ran! Way more progress than those stupid beams were ever gonna give me, eh?"

"You just punched me!"

"You can take that much, don't pretend I don't know you. Speaking of which, what's got your mind so in the gutter anyways?" Bell smirked, running her tongue over the cut in her cheek. Suzie was right of course, a punch didn't faze her now like it would have just over a year ago. Giant robots tended to do that.

"Just thinking about an offer." Suzie rolled her eyes, bouncing experimentally on the balls of her feet now, taking a few more experimental steps.

"Again with the mysterious offer. You said you'd tell me when I got better. Take a look at me. I'm better." Holding out her arms, she spun dangerously, setting Bell on edge.

"Careful-" Catching herself as she teetered dangerously, Suzie gave Bell a challenging look. "I- okay okay, _fine_. Just stop with all the…" Bell waved her arms around broadly. "Stupid stuff."

"Don't make me start running again. But seriously, look at me! You've been lying to me, I'm way better than you let on!"

"Stop hopping! Look, the offer was from Lennox, okay?"

"Mr. Macho Army Dude? What's he want?"

"Uh…" Bell resumed her nervous behavior, scratching her head and biting her nails. "They've extended an invitation of sorts…"

"Spit it out Bell, or I might just have to punch you again."

"Well first of all, they want you to be a scout. Most scouts work in pairs, or trios every once in a while, but I've always gone solo."

"Why?"

"I don't…work well with others, but you…I don't know, I worked well with you. Don't know why, you're stubborn and stupid and hotheaded-"

"Just like you!" The girls startled at the sound of a new voice.

"Don't appreciate the comment Sam." Bell muttered, venom dripping from her voice. "And I've spent the last hour and a half dealing with Ms. Too-Cool-For-School over here, so you'd better watch your step. You're on thin ice."

"Whoa whoa whoa, cool it…where'd the shiner come from?"

"She socked me. We haven't completely agreed on her regimen yet."

"Wait." Suzie broke in. "You said they wanted me to be a scout…they want us to be partners?!" Her face was priceless, nearly childish with the excited gleam in her eyes.

"Well…that's one option. See the other thing is, they've offered me a place in the front lines."

"Front lines…?" When Bell didn't answer, Suzie looked to Sam, who was righting the overturned plastic chair. Sitting heavily, he noticed her staring.

"You know," He finally said. "Like the front lines of the battle field; the brute force kind of thing. Most of the military veterans are in that classification."

"Classification?"

"I guess it's about time we really gave you an in-depth explanation about how this place works." Bell rubbed her face tiredly. Now that they were opening up, a mask seemed to crack and fall away, revealing a weary teenager dealing with things far beyond her years. She lifted her hand, motioning for Suzie to walk laps while she sat down on the ground and crossed her legs. Suzie reluctantly complied, seeing no choice as she had been fighting so valiantly for a chance to walk around just minutes ago. "So, obviously, we're on our own down here, completely cut off from resources. Looking at how the world functioned just a year or two ago, you wouldn't think we'd be able to survive. But somehow we've managed to create a society, where we're all interdependent on each other." Bell laced her fingers together to illustrate her point. "Everyone's got a role down here. No," Cutting Suzie off before she could ask, Bell barreled on. "Not everyone here knows how to fight. We do have the military force – the alleged 'front lines' we've been talking about – composed primarily of military veterans, like Sam said. Quite a few members of NEST, including Lennox, were in the city during the final battle, so they were here to help us from the start. They kept most of us safe, before we had even had the idea of a rebellion, and we were just focused on trying to stay alive. We got lucky and found this place when part of the parking garage collapsed – it had been built on some old network of tunnels that had been long forgotten. So we set out to find survivors and whatnot."

"The people that couldn't fight stayed here and worked on the construction of this place, day in and day out." Sam took over. "The first specific 'groups' or 'branches', or whatever you want to call them, that surfaced were the military and scouting branches. Originally the military just did the weapons handling and the hardcore fighting for us, while the scouts were in charge of getting necessary materials. Now, both of these branches require combat training – even if you're just a scout, you're going to need basic weapons knowledge and combat skills. Both are dangerous."

"You saw that first hand," Bell interjected. "And dealt with it pretty well – if you consider it a test, you passed with flying colors. With some work, you can be a scout if you so choose. But it's more than looking for simple resources; we used to just look for food and materials, but now we act as spies too, and search for ways to recruit new members, while also trying to gather information. Sam's girlfriend, Carly, was stuck in the compound-"

"Hold up, Carly's your girlfriend?!" The look of skeptical astonishment that Suzie wore was not lost on Sam.

"Yes. She is my girlfriend."

"So, why's she in there?"

"Dylan kidnapped her."

"That Gould rat? Wait…" Bell and Sam exchanged an amused glance as Suzie tried to work things out for herself.

"Suzie. We'll give you a history lesson later. For now just listen to the basics. I was saying, Carly's one of several moles we've got in the compound, siphoning information from the Decepticons. Scouts are in charge of staying in contact with the moles. So essentially we're the ones that sneak around and do the complicated stuff."

"Those who don't fight stay here. The biggest 'stay-at-home' branch is the communications. I'm the head of that," Sam stated almost smugly. "The scouts were bringing tons of electronics towards the beginning of this whole…'operation' if you will. Some technicians managed to make sort of a Frankenstein communication device, which we've elaborated on and improved since then. Now we've got a constant flow of communication between the branches, and every once in a while we send and receive updates from other rebelling organizations across the U.S., occasionally even from across the globe." Suzie's head snapped up in surprise.

"Wait…there's others like you guys? Fighting, out there?" Both Sam and Bell smiled appreciatively.

"Yep, all over."

"I couldn't believe it either, Suzie. When they got the comm. unit up and running, one of our first messages was a general SOS broadcasting from DC. It was incredible." Bell looked at her own communication device fondly, almost dreamily, as if the little bracelet held the answer to everything.

"How long have you been part of the Rebellion?" Suzie realized Bell had been speaking like a long time member, which she probably was now that Suzie thought about it.

"For almost two years…since the beginning of it all."

"How did you become part of it?" The silence was short, but noticeable. Suzie ignored it, and focused her attention on her wobbling feet as she almost twisted her ankle.

"Well, Lennox had found me in my house, and rescued me more or less. I would probably be stuck in that compound if he hadn't taken me along back then. Epps was a retired vet that Sam had known, and they were in the city trying to save Carly. Lennox and Epps were long time military friends, and they managed to find each other…so I guess that's really how the Rebellion started. It was them running around rescuing people like me, and that was all."

"So…what happened to you during the Invasion?" More silence from the other girl prompted Suzie to look up from her feet, and she immediately regretted deciding to ask the question. In general she wasn't much of the type to think of others' feelings before she spoke. The look that occupied Bell's face was painful; her eyes were hard, staring at the ground, obviously not seeing anything, her eyebrows drawn low, and her jaw clenched tight. Suzie knew that look – she had felt that look occupy her facial features for hours at a time in the compound, when all the other orphans were sleeping, while she dealt with the sleepless nights and the thoughts that they brought to the surface. It was a look she had seen on countless others in the compound that worked endlessly, with sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, unsure of why they kept fighting when there were so many options that would lead them to an easy death. It was a look of someone who had lived with so much grief for so long that they were past the point of tears; they were at a place between phases of the natural grieving cycle, a hypothetical limbo from which none of them could escape. It was a place so dark and hidden that even the best psychologists and philosophers couldn't have dreamed it would exist, underneath all the complex layers of the human mind and emotions. It was a place where the sheer act of living was agonizing, because you no longer lived for yourself; you lived for the people you'd lost – a romantic idea in the movies and novels, but it was hardly as heroic as they made it out to be. It was the dark cry for revenge, knowing it would never be had, and the endless ache for your loved ones that you knew you'd never get back. It was a place where you lived for those you had lost, but it was a hopeless kind of living; and it hurt Suzie more than words could explain to see Bell fall into that place. It was clear that this was a story that she didn't intend to tell for a long time to come, and Suzanne knew better than to push the limits of those boundaries. She knew personally that they weren't simply emotional boundaries; they were murderous ones.

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><p>So that was a thought munching final paragraph. Dark. Depressing. Hopefully we'll see Bell's back story in the future, and she won't have to keep it all bottled up so it just simmers in there. Cause at this rate she might explode, and that would be disastrous. Let it all out Bell, let it all out. :3<p> 


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